Manuscript 12 - 16

Cambridge, UL, T-S 12.184 + Cambridge, UL, T-S 20.50

Origins

Bottom writing: Egypt (?), 6th c. Top writing: Egypt (?), 11th c.

Provenance

Found in Genizah of Ben Ezra Synagogue, Fostat, Egypt, and taken to Cambridge by S. Schechter, 1896–97.

Contents

Palimpsest. Bottom writing: Fragments of 1–2 Kings (3–4 Reigns) in Greek, in a translation thought to be that of Aquila. Extant portions: 1 Kgs 20:7–17, 2 Kgs 23:11–27. Top writing: hymns of Yannai.

Codicology

Vellum. Two conjoined pairs of leaves, original size 35 x 23 cm.

Palaeography

Palimpsest. The bottom text (with which we are concerned) is in a Greek Biblical majuscule hand, in 2 cols. No accents, little punctuation, few contractions.The top writing is in a square Oriental hand.

Bibliography

Burkitt, F. C., Fragments of the Books of Kings according to the Translation of Aquila, Cambridge, 1897.

Sokoloff, Michael, Joseph Yahalom , Christian Palimpsests from the Cairo Genizah, Revue de l'histoire des Textes, 8, 1978 , 109-132.

Tchernetska, Natalie, Greek-Oriental Palimpsests in Cambridge: Problems and Prospects, C. Holmes, J. Waring , Literacy, Education and Manuscript Transmission in Byzantium and Beyond, Leiden, 2002, 243–256.

 Aquila’s translation of Kings 20:12–17 (bottom text) [T1, 3 verso]